The Silver Gene

So many people ask how and when some pups turn silver and why 🩶🐾

Some puppies are born black or very dark, but carry a progressive greying gene. This gene slowly lightens the coat over time, turning black into shades of silver, charcoal, blue or grey.  Its dominant in Old English Sheepdogs and can also be seen in Poodles. 

When does it happen?  You’ll usually start to see changes anywhere from 6 weeks to a few months.  It continues gradually through puppyhood, most coats settle into their true colour by 18–24 months

Why does it happen?  It’s completely genetic, not diet or environment the greying gene causes pigment to fade as new hair grows.  Not every pup carries it even in the same litter.  We see this with Valkyrie and her brother Dougal, they are the exact same litter and are now 4 years old, Valkyrie stayed very black and Dougal went silver.

It usually starts with Frosting around the face, legs, or chest.  A smoky or charcoal phase before becoming silver.   No two pups silver the same, some go light early, others take their sweet time, and some stay darker forever.

Here are some collages of our dogs who were born black and turned silver.  Every photo in each collage is the same dog, from birth to now.